Printing press accessory



Jan. 25, 1955 A. R. STOBB PRINTING PRESS ACCESSORY Filed Dec. 2, 1955 INVENTOR ANTON 5. 57-056 ,1, ,,z,,,,3, 7 In. ATTORNEzj limited States Patent PRINTING PRESS ACCESSORY Anton R. Stobb, Hampton, N. J., assignor to Fredk H. Levey Company, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application December 2, 1953, Serial No. 395,817

2 Claims. (Cl. 101--349) This invention relates to an improved cam assembly especially useful in effecting, and controlling the extent of, longitudinal movement of the so-called vibrating rollers of rotary printing presses. The invention provides improvements in cam construction and operation and especially improvements in the construction and operation of rotary printing presses.

In conventional practice, printing ink is conveyed from a fountain roller to the plate cylinder of rotary printing presses by one or more series of parallel ink distributing rollers. Usually, alternate rollers of the series are caused to move back and forth along their respective longitudinal axis in order to effect a more uniform distribution of the ink over the cylindrical surfaces of the rollers.

As is well understood in the art of printing, it is frequently desired to apply to one section of the roller a film of ink of a color, for instance, different from that applied to adjacent longitudinal sections of the roller. It is generally necessary to avoid the mixing of the ink of one color with that of another color and, under such circumstances, it becomes necessary to regulate and nicely control the extent of the longitudinal movement of the vibrating rollers. Sometimes it becomes necessary to eliminate all such longitudinal movement.

This longitudinal movement of the vibrating rollers of rotary printing presses has heretofore been effected by various means including levers, cams, or the like, which have been subject to several objections, especially the inability to effect the desired nicety of control of the extent of the longitudinal movement of the vibrating rollers and the difi'iculty and inconvenience of adjusting and coordinating movement of the several vibrating rollers.

In accordance with my present invention, the extent of longitudinal movement of each of the vibrating rollers may be nicely regulated and controlled by a single adjustment, or where desired, the longitudinal movement of each of the vibrating rollers may be separately regulated.

The invention will be described and illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which Figure 1 represents, somewhat schematically, a sectional view of the inking mechanism of a rotary printing press along the lines 11 of Figure 2;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary sectional view along the lines 2-2 of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view along the lines of 3-3 of Figure 1.

Referring more particularly to Figure l of the draw- "ice machine bolts 17. Secured to the left-hand end of the shaft 14 is a gear assembly 18, including gear 18a, and adapted to be driven by means of beveled gear 19, which is secured thereto as by means of machine bolts 20.

The vibrating roller 8 is mounted on the shaft 21 which is parallel to the shaft 14 and is rotatably supported by ings, ink is conveyed from a fountain roller, indicated at l, by means of a ductor 2 to an ink distributing roller 3 and, from thence, is conveyed to the form rollers 4 and the plate cylinder, indicated at 5, by means of a series of parallel ink distributing rollers 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and

12. Usually rollers 7, 8, 11, and 12 will have peripheral surfaces of steel, and intervening rollers 6, 9, and 10 will have peripheral surfaces of rubber. Either the steel rollers, or the rubber-covered rollers, or both, may be vibrated,

that is, may be caused to move longitudinally as they rotate about their axis.

Details of my improved cam assembly will appear more clearly from Figures 2 and 3 of the drawing, in which like elements are indicated by common reference numerals.

As is well understood in the art, the inking rollers are mounted on parallel axis rotatably supported at each end by the frame 13 of the printing press.

The shaft 14 is rotatably mounted on the frame 13 of the press by means of bearings 15 secured to the frame by the press frame 13 and by means of bearings AZ and 23, which are secured to the side frame by means of machine bolts 24.

Secured to the left-hand end of the shaft 21 by means of washer 25 and machine bolt 26 is the gear 27 having teeth which intermesh with the teeth of the gearmember 18a by which it is driven. The shaft 21 is adapted to be moved longitudinally along its axis and, to permit such movement without disengaging the driving gears, the teeth of the gear member 18a are of substantially greater longitudinal dimension than those of gear 27. The shaft 14 is secured against substantial longitudinal movement.

Rotatably mounted on the right-hand end of the shaft 14 by means of bearing assembly 28 is a substantially cylindrical member 29. The member 29 is rotated by means of shaft 14, advantageously at a somewhat reduced speed of rotation, by means of reduction gears comprising gear 30, which is secured to the shaft 14, and planetary gears 31 which mesh with gear 30 and with the internal gear 32, the gears 31 being adapted to rotate about pins 31a which are secured to the cylindrical member 29 and by means of which the member 29 is rotated. The planetary gears 31 are rotatably supported on the pins 31a by means of ball bearings 33.

Ring gear 34 is rotatably fitted onto the outer end of the cylindrical member 29, of reduced diameter, and is held thereon by means of snap ring 35. This ring gear is adapted to be locked in position with respect to the cylindrical member 29 by means of a spring pin 36 and may be rotated with respect to the member. 29 by withdrawal of the spring pin which fits into indentations in the shoulder 29a of member 29. A cam groove 37 extends about the periphery of the cylindrical member 29 in the form of a flattened sine wave. The cylindrical member 29 and the bearing assembly 28, are held in place on shaft 14 by means of washer 38 and macihne screw 38a.

Rotatably mounted on shaft 21 by means of bearing assembly 39 is a cylindrical member 40' on the outer end, of reduced diameter of which there is rotatably mounted a ring gear 41 having teeth adapted to mesh with those of ring gear 34 and to be driven thereby. Ring gear 41 is adapted to be locked in place with respect to cylindrical member 40 by means of spring pin 42 which fits into indentations in shoulder 41a of member 41. The ring gear 41 is held in place by means of snap ring 43 which fits into a groove in the member 40. The bearing assembly 39 is held in place on the shaft 21 by means of washer 44 and machine screw 45.

Extending about the cylindrical member 40 there is a cam member 46 in the form of a radially projecting ridge extending about the periphery of the member 40 in the form of a flattened sine wave and adapted to cooperate with the groove cam member 37.

In operation, the cylindrical member 29 and gear 34 will be rotated by means of shaft 14 and the connecting reducing gears and, in turn, will cause the cylindrical member 40 to rotate by reason of the intermeshing ring gears 34 and 41 which are locked against rotation with respect to the cylindrical members 29 and 40, respectively, by means of spring pins 36 and 42.

As the cylindrical members 40 and 29 rotate, member 40, shaft 21 and roller 8 will be caused to move longitudinally with respect to the cylindrical member 29 by reason of the intermeshing of the projecting cam member 46 with the cam groove 37, the extent of the longitudinal motion being equal to the variation in algebraic sums of the amplitudes of the respective sine waves as the cam members rotate. This will, of course, depend upon the relative positions of cam members 46 and 37.

The relative positions of cam members 46 and 37 may be changed at will by extracting spring pin 36, for instance, and rotating the cylindrical member 40 with respect to the cylindrical member 29. This will, of course,

effect a change of the amount of variation in the algebraic sums of the amplitudes of the respective flattened sine waves and, consequently, a change in the extent of iongitudinal movement of the vibrating drum 8.

It will be appreciated that where maximum vibration is desired, the relative positions of the cam members 46 and 37 will be so adjusted that the crests of the two waves coincide. Where minimum longitudinal motion of roller 8 is desired, the adjustment is made such that the crest of one sine wave coincides with the trough of the other, and where the amplitudes of the two sine waves are the same, an adjustment such as just noted will result in a complete elimination of the longitudinal movement of the vibrating roller.

A plurality of vibrating rollers, each supported by a shaft such as indicated at 21 and parallel to shaft 14, may be positioned about shaft 14, as shown at 7, 8, 11, and 12 of Figure 1. Each of the shafts 21 will be provided at its right-hand end with a cam assembly including a cylindrical member, such as shown at 40, with projecting cam member 46 and ring gears 41 adapted to cooperate with the cam assembly on shaft 14 previously described. The longitudinal movement of each of the vibrating rollers may be changed by extracting the spring pin 36 and rotating the cylindrical member 29 with respect to the several cylindrical members 46 or each vibrating roller may be separately adjusted, as previously described.

Where only alternate rollers are to be vibrated, they may, with advantage, be positioned with their axis of rotation equi-distant from the axis of rotation of shaft 14 and with such construction a plurality of rollers, for instance, 7, 8, 11, and 12 may be provided with vibrating mechanism such as just described cooperating directly with the cam member 37.

Where it is also desired to vibrate a roller positioned, for instance, as roller 10, the mechanism for vibrating such roller is, with advantage, adapted to be driven by the cam member of one of the other vibrating roller, for instance, that of the roller 8 previously described. Such arrangement is shown particularly in Figure 3 of the drawings.

In Figure 3, the cam member of shaft 21 is the same as that previously described and the cam member adapted to rotate roller is identical with that of shaft 21, except that in place of the projecting cam member 46 a groove cam is provided similar to the cam groove 37 and adapted to cooperate with the projecting cam member 46.

The relative position of the shafts 21 with respect to shaft 14 will depend somewhat upon the diameter of the cylindrical members of the cam assemblies and the diameters of the rollers. Shafts of the rollers 7, 8, 11, and 12 may all be equi-distant from shaft 1 5. However, the shaft of roller 11 for instance, is further removed from shaft 14. Where it is desired to effect the vibration of a roller positioned such as roller 10, which may, if desired be a rubber roller, the shaft on which the cam assembly is mounted may be separated from the shaft of roller 10, as shown, for instance, in Figure 3.

The roller 10 is shown mounted on shaft 47 which is rotatably supported by frame member 48 and bearing 49. The other end of shaft 47 may be supported by the press frame 13, as shown in Figure 2 of the drawing, but usually will not be provided with a gear, such as 27. Shaft 47 and roller 10 are adapted to be moved longitudinally and in order to effect such movement, the right-hand end of the shaft is shown as provided with the member 50 adapted to be secured to the shaft as by threading, to constitute a part thereof and to cooperate with groove 51 of shaft 52 which is caused to move longitudinally in the manner previously described herein.

It will be understood that various means may be employed for imparting to shaft 47, the longitudinal motion of shaft 52. Advantageously, the arrangement should be such that the distance between shafts 47 and 21 may be adjusted independently of shaft 52. For this purpose, I have shown bearing 49 as an eccentric bearing, so that by rotating the bearing within the frame member 43, the tension between roller 1t and roller 8, for instance, may be readily adjusted independently of the cam assembly.

In the specific embodiment of my invention shown in the drawing, each of the cams extends about the cylinder member in the form of a single flattened sine wave. In some instances, it may be desired to have the cam member form a double sine wave about the cylindrical memher in order to increase the frequency of the longitudinal vibration relative to the rate of rotation of the cylindrical member, and such arrangement is within the contemplation of the present invention. Instead of a single or double sine wave, any number of complete waves about the circumference of the cylindrical member may be employed.

I claim:

1. A cam assembly comprising at least two parallel shafts and adapted to efiect, and control the extent of longitudinal movement of' one of said shafts with respect to the other, the assembly comprising a driven shaft and at least one shaft mounted parallel thereto and adapted to be moved longitudinally, a cylindrical member mounted at one end of the first said shaft and adapted to be rotated thereby, a second cylindrical member rotatably mounted on the corresponding end of each of the second said shafts, cooperating cam members extending around the peripheries of the respective cylindrical members, one of said cam members extending inwardly, and the cooperating cam members extending outwardly from the periphery of the respective cylindrical members, each cam member being in the form of a flattened sine wave with respect to the intersection of the peripheries of the respective cylindrical members and a plane extending therethrough perpendicular to-the axis of said cylindrical members, intermeshing gears coaxially mounted on the respective cylindrical members, the gear of at least one of' the cylindrical members being adapted to be rotated at will independently of the rotation of the cylindrical member on which it is mounted and to be locked in place in normal operation and adapted to rotate only with said cylindrical member.

2. In combination with a rotary printing press comprising at least one ink transfer roller adapted to he moved back and forth along its longitudinal axis, apparatus for effecting and controlling such motion of the roller comprising a driven shaft rotatably supported against longitudinal movement, at least one other shaft rotatably supported parallel to the first said shaft and adapted to be moved longitudinally,- the ink transfer roller being axially supported by and secured to the second said shaft and adapted to be rotated and moved longitudinally therewith, a cylindrical member mounted on one end of the first said shaft and adapted to be driven thereby, a second cylindrical member rotatably mounted on the corresponding end of the second said'shaft, cooperating cam members extending around the peripheries of the respec tive cylindrical members, one of said cam members extending inwardly and the other cam member extending outwardly from the periphery of the cylindrical members and each cam member being in the form of a flattened sine wave with respect to the intersections of the peripheries of the respective. cylindrical members and a plane extending therethrough perpendicular to the axis of said cylindrical members, intermeshing gears coaxially mounted on the respective cylindrical members, at least one of said gears being adapted to be rotated independently of the rotation of the cylindrical member on which it is mounted when desired and to be locked in place in normal operation and adapted to rotate only with said cylindrical member.

No references cited. 

